I remember my mother getting gifts for my and my brother's teachers when we were in grade school and thinking back on it, it seems to me they were easier to find something for - they were primarily nuns :)
My daughter adores hers 1st grade teacher (who was also her kindergarten teacher) and the feeling is mutual. What makes it a bit awkward for me, is that her husband in a social friend of me and my husband, but our relationship with her is on a more professional level.
Her 2nd grade reading teacher is another great gal - who keeps telling me she wants my daughter for her own because she only has sons :)
I realize public school is not for everyone, but so far I have nothing to complain about - although I have no intentions of ever becoming complacent about it.
I was very pro-public-school and anti-HS, candidly.
It took a few years of PSing completely to turn me around.
I'm sure there are some excellent holdouts, working under the radar. But I think the establishment, and unions, are making it increasingly hard for them to survive.
Dan